AUH-LHR

Etihad had long since outgrown Terminal 3 at Zayed International Airport by the time the new terminal finally opened in November last year (after originally being planned for inauguration in 2017). Opened in 2009 as an interim facility to ease congestion in Terminal 1, Terminal 3 featured dedicated First and Business Class entrances and check-in areas, along with direct access to Fast Track immigration and security.



Our Etihad chauffeur dropped us off at the Business Class entrance the morning of our flight in early February 2023, inside of which there were two Business Class check-in areas featuring regular standing desks. Beyond, a partially screened-off First Class check-in area housed desks set at a lower height for sit-down check-in, with an additional seating area beyond. There was a bit of a wait to be seen at check-in despite the area being very quiet – it was almost as if we’d caught the agents by surprise.



Security was quick, with no need to remove laptops, tablets or liquids from bags. The First Class lounge, the latest iteration of which opened in its final location in the duty free area in 2016, was ahead and to the right after passing through security, whilst the main Business Class lounge was a roughly 5-minute walk along the gate concourse, opposite Gate 35. A secondary Business Class lounge was located in T1. A Premium lounge for pre-cleared passengers travelling to the US was located further along the gate concourse in T3, opposite Gate 59.

The main Business Class lounge was the one we chose to use, which as with its T1 sibling followed the familiar – and by now fairly dated – design of the Etihad lounge at Heathrow. Turning right from reception, the entrance corridor was home to a concierge, luggage storage area and family room, beyond which the lounge opened out in a large rectangle.









To the left was the lounge’s main dining area, comprising numerous dining tables (some arranged around banquette seating), high top seating and a tended bar. The central walk-through buffet was fairly uninspiring, although I’m sure I’d have been able to find something decent enough had I been in the mood for food.





















To the right was the majority of the lounge space, including the main tended bar flanked by ample armchair and sofa seating, additional dining and high top tables beyond and then further armchair seating beyond that. A business centre with individual iMac workstations and shared printing facilities was located in the middle of the far end of the lounge, which was also home to ‘The Den’ – individual TV pods with Fritz Hansen egg chairs.























Showers and washrooms were located at this end of the lounge, along with smoking rooms. The Six Senses Spa used to be located here too – somewhat explaining the rather grand entrance to the showers and washrooms – but was closed with the pandemic in 2020 and never reopened. Unlike the washrooms in the Heathrow lounge, those in Abu Dhabi were significantly brighter, even if the design was very mid-2000s. An agent was kind enough to show me one of the shower rooms, which were well appointed with walk-in rain showers and toilets. Amenities were still of the unbranded variety.









Walking back along the window side of the lounge (views of which were to the landside of the terminal), a secondary buffet station appeared to be out of use – perhaps due to the quiet time of the day, as the terminal was busiest overnight with connecting passengers.



A further armchair seating area was located opposite the central tended bar, with banquette seating on one side. The carpet here was of a high-pile design – really quite impractical for a high-traffic airport lounge. The buffet station at the end of this seating area was being set up with desserts as I walked past.













The final section of armchair seating adjacent to the dining area ended with a partially screened off area featuring a lone dining table and four high-back armchairs from the First Class lounge – I believe this is a legacy from when the First Class lounge was closed during the pandemic and a separate area was set aside for First Class passengers in the Business Class lounge.



There was no proactive service anywhere in the lounge, and most of the staff seemed quite disinterested in their jobs – a complete contrast to the experience you’ll usually receive in Doha with Qatar Airways, by way of comparison. Power sockets were noticeable by their absence in most areas of the lounge.

It wasn’t a long walk to Gate 32 where our 8-year-old 787-9, A6-BLE was waiting. Although the gate had two airbridges, only one was in use to Door 2L.



This was one of Etihad’s 787s configured with three classes; on boarding I turned right and settled into the first row of the rear Business Class cabin in Seat 7K. On the seat was a cushion, with the blanket and menu (with wine card inside) placed on the footrest. Amenity and hygiene kits were placed on the seat’s side ledge. A water bottle and headphones could be found in the armrest storage.













Etihad’s 787 Business Class product, known as the Business Studio, is based on the Zodiac platform, and can also be found on the A380 fleet (with 4 of 10 of those aircraft returned to post-pandemic service at the time of writing). The A350 Collins Aerospace Super Diamond product is currently being rolled out to the 787 fleet. Etihad’s oldest Business Class product – the Stelia Solstys II seat – is fitted to their 777 fleet.

I found the 787 seat to be lacking in privacy – even in those seats like mine that are closer to the window than the aisle – and a little firm (although the latter can be electronically adjusted to a degree). The adjustment wasn’t quite soft enough for my liking, so I had to request a second blanket to use as a padded seat base. There is no ability to deploy a leg rest, which is quite frustrating.

The seat position and lighting can be controlled both by quick access buttons below the side ledge and by a separate touchscreen adjacent to the handheld IFE controller. The touchscreen featured no fewer than six different menus covering seat recline and lateral movement, seat presets, seat firmness, massage and lumbar support, window shades and lighting. For lighting, there is a feature light above the armrest with Etihad’s trademark pattern, an overhead reading light, mood lighting towards floor level and a table light.







There are two USB-A ports adjacent to the IFE controller, and a power socket at floor level. There are no overhead air vents. If you want to hang your coat within the seat, the hook’s position means it will cover half of the IFE screen. Overall though, if you ignore the lack of a leg rest, this is a generally well thought out product, if a little drab in colour and dated in design.

The crew were quick to welcome me onboard by name and offer a pre-departure drink of champagne, orange juice, water or lemon mint. Hot towels were also offered before takeoff, and post-takeoff drinks orders were taken. Dine Anytime was proactively offered. A 7h20 flight time was announced by our captain.



As we pushed back, I noticed we were adjacent to Etihad’s Formula 1-liveried 787-9, and during our taxi to Runway 13R we got a great view of the impressive Terminal A, which would open just 9 months after this trip (albeit 6 years late).





Once airborne I nipped to one of the two Business Class washrooms, located either side of the Doors 2 galley. Each featured a window and were notably larger than their A350 equivalents, although the lack of any special amenities and low quality hand towels continued. I do appreciate a seat for changing in washrooms on aircraft, and whilst I didn’t need to change on this day flight, it would have been nice if Etihad had used the space available to them to fit a seat.







Once back at my seat, I realised that my IFE was stuck in an endless loop of playing the previous occupant’s episode of Family Guy regardless of what I selected. A quick reset by the crew later and all was well. The 18-inch touchscreen was positioned a little too far away to use without deploying the handheld controller. I gave up on weak Bullet Train to watch the classic Reservoir Dogs, switching to 2022’s Father of the Bride once that had finished.



The bulky tray table slides out and pulls down from the side of the IFE screen in a fairly cumbersome manner, but once deployed is sturdy. My post-takeoff drinks of mint tea and sparkling water came with a serving of cold nuts. Lunch orders were taken at this time, and the Cabin Manager welcomed each passenger, offering further drinks and clearing empties in the process.















Starters were served on trays, along with a selection of good quality warm bread – I was particularly pleased to see garlic bread in the bowl. I had to request a knife for the butter, as only a spoon had been delivered with the tasty kale and sunchoke soup.





For my main course, the beef tenderloin was a solid choice although was a little overdone as is often the case at 40,000 feet, complemented beautifully by a glass of the Bordeaux (poured in the galley).





The crew had evidently forgotten my dessert order as my table was put away after the main course when I was in the washroom, so I had to redeploy it and request another tablecloth and serviette when the dessert eventually arrived after another prompting. Given the small portion sizes, I opted for both the rich chocolate fondant and ice cream, which turned out to be a good call since the fondant was rather lacking in cream. I had to remind the crew for my post-dessert latte – a theme which continued throughout the rest of the flight with drinks top-ups not being proactively offered.











The crew offered pre-landing snacks two hours before landing, which is probably around 30 minutes too early on such a short flight. I opted for the seasonal fresh fruit from the all-day menu, which was presented without a serviette. One of the pieces of fruit was a little on the mushy side which rather put me off the rest.





We landed back into Heathrow on Runway 27L and taxied to Gate 12 at Terminal 4. There was no queue at immigration and with hand baggage only I was soon in the car park awaiting my Uber home.

Whilst Etihad may not be the truly premium airline it once was, it’s undoubtedly got a solid product. The airline faces stiff competition from its much larger and bigger neighbours – Emirates and Qatar Airways – and I think is some way from truly competing with both, although the continued rollout of the Super Diamond seat, recently revised Business Class soft product and new terminal (with new lounges) in Abu Dhabi is likely to go some way to catch up.

Thanks for following along with this slightly retro look at the Etihad Business Class experience – comments and questions are welcomed as usual.